Judena Klebs

Excerpts

“The air was still damp and crisp, as it had been the evening before. Small hands dug in the mud among the soggy leaves from rain and dew that had come overnight. The sobbing two-year old dug her fingers deeper into the ground. Pain under her fingernails was sharp. Yet it was hardly noticeable because of the pain in her heart. Little Lisa dug feverishly and in a panic. If only she could change what she had witnessed the night before.“

“No matter how deeply she dug the body was not there. The truth was that the body had been moved and Lisa did not know where. The hope of changing what she had seen was now gone and it was her fault. If she had died instead, the infant would not have had to be killed. Isn’t that what they told her? She gave up crying and digging.“

“But then, Baby Lisa remembered the sound of yelling and her body being stiffened by fear as the male voice sounded throughout the house in a terrifying tone. She felt no sense of safety even in her crib as she heard the sound of the voice coming through the wall and felt a chill of horror whenever the man entered her room. “